Kids aren't born hating vegetables, they are taught it. Most
likely they've learned from watching how their parents reacted to eating
vegetables. If you love broccoli, then chances are your kids might like
it as well. I use to eat huge plates of broccoli when I was a kid.

Getting
kids to eat fruit really isn't a problem. Stick to a bowl of
strawberries, blueberries, raspberries apples, oranges or anything like
that and the kids will eat it up. Trying to take a kids peach is almost
as bad as trying to take their candy. Heck I've seen kids love lemons.
Weird, but true.
This article gives you some pointers on how to
encourage your kids to eat more fruits and vegetables and less candy,
junk, ice cream, etc.

The most important thing to do is to not
hide vegetables from them. Don't try to conceal them. This will tell
them that their unpleasant and that they should avoid them. If they
learn from a young age to enjoy vegetables they will eat them the rest
of their lives.

photo credit: sciencedaily.com

Get an early start
As hard as it is
to believe, kids to learn their eating habits added very young age.
Studies show that the average age is around two or even younger. From
the time that they start two to eat semi solid foods they should be
given vegetables. Only give them vegetables and nothing else to reward
them. Meaning do not reward them for eating vegetables with some sort of
sweet or treat. You have to give them the idea that vegetables are that
treat..

Even if you don't like vegetables you're going to have to
toughen up here and shown that you really do like vegetables. Take that
carrot, chew it up, and put a big smile on your face.

Let them pick
There's
nothing kids like more than having the power to pick something
themselves. Go through the vegetable isles at the supermarket and let
them look and explore. Explain that the green vegetables make them big
and strong. Tell the carrots make their eyes like an eagle. Make them
feel like superheroes. Try to choose a variety of colors and explain
what each color of vegetable contributes.
If you don't know what each color vegetable does, google "vegetable colors" and you should find some really good information.

Letting them help
Thinking
back on your childhood what are some of the earliest memories you have?
Are any of them sitting with your mother, your grandmother, your father
or some other family member somewhere cooking something? Chances are
they are. Most kids, when you ask them to describe their earliest
memories, often talk about cooking something with a family member. Many
chefs including some of the most famous got their start by cooking with
an influential family member.

Letting the kids get involved in
preparing meals not only creates a bond and experience between you and
the children it also allows you to teach them good nutrition. If they
are able to help prepare the vegetables they will want to be able to try
what they've made.

No Cookie Jars!
Looking on your
countertop right now, are there any junk foods that are in plain sight
for your kids to see? Do they have access to chips, cookies or ice
cream? If so they shouldn't. Remove anything that's in plain sight that
is considered junk food. Grab a bowl, fill it with fruit and stick it on
the counter. Keep good food in sight and hide the bad stuff. When the
kids open the fridge they should see carrots, maybe celery sticks,
oranges, apples or any type of fruit or vegetable should be visible. All
the junk food (if you have any) should be out of their site.

Another
good idea is to have 100% fruit juice in the fridge for them to drink.
Again kids are going follow what they see you do. They see you drinking
soda all day there going to do the same thing. That doesn't mean you
can't drink soda, just put the soda behind the juice.

Test your green thumb
Even
if you live in New York City, you can grow at garden in just a little
box. Teaching your children how to grow, how to pick, and the fun of
eating the stuff that you grow will really help them create love for
vegetables. Not to mention that anything you grow yourself you know
where it came from. Growing vegetables is beyond this article but you
should be able to find a plethora of information by googleing "grow
vegetables at home"

Now this is important, let them do the
picking. There's something about the smile on a kids face after they've
picked something they grew.

Researching Vegetable Recipes They Like
Doing
5 minutes of research online can literally find hundreds of recipes. Do
a quick google search for "kids vegetable recipes" and you'll be very
surprised about the number of very tasty and very healthy recipes the
two kids will love to make with you.

Another recommendation is to
watch some cooking shows that are known for cooking healthy meals. 30
minute meals, good eats, etc. That's not an excuse to sit on the couch
all day though!

Pull out the WOK
The Chinese never
had any problems with diabetes until they adopted the western style of
cooking and eating. That's kind of telling. One of the best, if not the
best, way to cook vegetables is stir frying. Stir frying requires very
little fat to be added to the vegetables. Even with very little oil the
taste of the vegetables get sealed in and creates a delicious side dish
or meal.

Try to get many different kinds of vegetables together to
make a vegetable medley. A quick meal may with just stir fried
vegetables can show your kids how delicious vegetables can be. You don't
have to throw in beef or chicken and are any other type of meat just
the veggies.

Put the dip in it
One way to get kids to
eat more vegetables is to have a very healthy dip to have them eat
their vegetables with. Here is a very simple dill dip:
½ cup dried dill weed
½ cup dried minced onion
½ cup dried parsley
½ cup Beau Monde Seasoning
When
you want to use this makes simply combine it with 1 cup of low fat
mayonnaise 1 cup of low fat yogurt and 3 tablespoons of the mix above.
Believe me this dip is awesome.

Hold the soda, get the juice
It's
no secret that soda is not a very good choice for kids. Yet the
majority of parents, to quiet their children, give in and let their
children drink soda. Of course anything is OK in moderation but soda
should be the exception. In my experience once kids drink soda, juice is
out of the picture. They'll be begging for soda and juice will be an
afterthought. But remember they learn from what they see. If soda isn't
in the house they can drink it. If they see you drinking 10 sodas a day,
why shouldn't they?

Giving them 100% juice early on while help them develop a love for it. Heck, you can even make your own with a juicer.

A
word of caution though, buy bottles of juice not cans. For some reason
can juice has a lot of salt in it. Check it out for yourself the next
time you're at the supermarket.

So this is just a couple of ideas
to help get your kids and loving vegetables at an early age. Even a
third over the age of 2, 3 or 4, changing their habits is something that
can be accomplished as long as you stick to your guns. Good luck.